Waldman Plumbing & Heating

Waldman Plumbing & Heating works out of 12 Essex St in Lynn, and its reviews trace a pretty consistent pattern of callouts: a water heater on its last legs, a boiler that's stopped throwing heat, a frozen pipe or a sump pump that quits at the worst moment. The jobs range from small to serious. Reviewers describe a new water-inlet valve for a washer, a sill cock installed outside, and pipes cleared after freezing overnight, right alongside heavier repairs — a soil pipe that broke unexpectedly on a second floor, a boiler blower fan that died and got replaced the same day, and a 13-year-old, 75-gallon water heater that was pumped dry, ordered, and swapped in before the next afternoon. On Google, that adds up to a 4.8-star average across 482 ratings, and the last six months alone brought 46 more reviews with just one negative mixed in. A handful of names — Dan, Kyle, Peter, Tim, Corey — turn up again and again, usually credited for walking the homeowner through the diagnosis before starting the repair rather than just doing the work and handing over a bill. The company's Massachusetts plumbing license is active, and it holds an A+ rating with BBB accreditation. The one thing worth asking about directly: a February reviewer was charged a $245 diagnostic fee for a non-emergency water heater visit, said that fee wasn't credited toward the repair, and called the resulting $2,400 replacement price — tank not included, since it was under warranty — excessive. It's the lone negative review in the recent stretch, but specific enough to raise before booking anything that isn't urgent. Waldman fits the boiler-won't-start, water-heater-failing, pipes-just-froze kind of call — the everyday plumbing and heating breakdowns where an explained fix matters as much as a fast one. Before scheduling anything short of an emergency, confirm upfront whether the diagnostic charge gets applied to the final invoice.